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AN
HISTORICAL DISQUISITION
ON THE
MAMMOTH,
OR,
dPreat Zmtxitm 3fncosnitum,
AN EXTlNcf, IMMENSE, CARNIFOROUS ANIMAL,
WHOSE
FOSSIL REMAINS
HAVE BEEN 70UNO IN
JBortF) America,
Containing some introductory Observations, a Narrative of the. Dis-
covery of nearly an entire Skeleton near New York, in the Autumn
of i8oi, together with a comparative Description, and occasional
Remarks : illustrated with Engravings.
By REMBRANDT PEALE,
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR E. LAWRENCE, NO. 378, STRAND.
BY C. MERCIZR,
Northumberland-court, Strand.
1803.
To Charles Willson Peale.
In addressing; this to one of the
best of fathers, it is but just that the
world should know how much, and
in what manner, it is indebted to
you for the antique treasure of which
the following pages treat.
When some of the first discover-
ed bones of the Mammoth were,
eighteen years ago, brought to you
by Dr. Brown, for the purpose of
making drawings from them, they
were put into one corner of your
picture gallery, where they fixed
the astonishment of every visitor,
IV
and daily served to confirm your
intention of procuring, if possible,
an entire skeleton. This your per-
severing zeal has at length accom-
plished : but a more extensive be-
nefit was likewise the consequence ;
and the Museum, of which you are
the founder, already rivalling many
in Europe, is to be ascribed to the
same cause, and dated from the same
period. The bones of the Mam-
moth first produced the idea of a
Museum, which, after eighteen years
of rapid approach to maturity, un-
der the unprecedented exertions of
an individual, has in its turn enabled
you to place among its treasures
nearly a perfect skeleton of the
Mammoth — the first of American
animals, in the first of American
Museums. The world will, there-
fore, join with me in saying, that the
most complete account of the ani-
mal you were the means of disco-
vering for them, should be inscribed
to you, as a feeble effort to do jus-
tice to your meritorious zeal for
science, and as an assurance of the
gratitude of
Your affectionate Son,
Rembrandt Peak,
London, July i8, 1803.
AD VERTlSEMEm.
IN the account of the Mammoth, published
in October last, the first crude ideas from an im-
perfect examination ivere hastily given : subsequent
investigation has discovered many interesting cir~
cumstances, which are here detailed-, and some
passages which were 7iot sufiiciently explicit, have
been more jully explained. Instead, therefore, of
re-publishi?ig it as a second edition, which has been
long called for, it was preferred to give it a more
methodical, satisfactory, and enlarged form, only
adopting such passages as suited the present purpose^
(instead of the affectation of giving them a new
dress,) and dwelling upon those parts of the subject
which were but slightly noticed in the former pub-
lication.
Innocent pursuits, it should not rank low in
the scale of benefits.
From an examination of the various strata,
as discovered in mines or exposed in cliffs, we
have been taught that the surface of the earth
has at times been violently agitated, and that
there have been intervals of rest, in which the
growth of animal, vegetable and mineral sub-
stances has regularly proceeded : but however
rugged the surface of the earth, and broken its
strata, very few determinate ideas could be
formed, were they not accompanied, as they are,
with the remains of organized substances.
The celebrated Cuvier, in his Memoir on
Fossil Bones, thus commences his observa^
tions : "It is now universally known that the
globe which we inhabit, on every side presents^
irresistible proofs of the greatest revolutions:
the varied productions of living nature, which
embellish the surface, is but a garment cover-
ing the ruins of an antecedent state of na-
ture. Whether we turn up the plains, whe-
ther we penetrate the cavernous mountain s>
or climb their broken sides, the remnants of
3
organized bodies are every where found, b\i^
ried in the various strata ^vhich form the ex*
ternal crust of this globe. Immense collec-
tions of shells lie buried far from any sea, and
at heights inaccessible to its waves : fishes are
found in veins of tjlate, and vegetable impres-
sions at heights and depths equally astonish*
ing. But what is tftost surprising is the
disorder which retgrts in their relative posi^
tions 5 here, a stratum of shells covers another
of vegetables j there, fishes are found over
terrestrial animals, which in. their turn ar6
placed over plants or shells. Torrents oflav^
and pumice, produced from subterranean
fires, are mixed v/nh the products of the
ocean : these fossils are almost always foreign
to the soil v/hich hides them; it is in the
equator we mud look for recent shells and
fishes analogous to those which are found fos-
sil in the north, and "uice vetfd. In short,
although nature has thus embellished the
actual residence of living beings, although so
much care is shewn in their preservation and
happiness, she seems equally pleased with
exhibiting the monuments of her power in
this disorder and apparent confusion-^all evi-
B 2
dent proofs of the total overthrow which
must have preceded the present order of the
universe.
" These traces of desolation have always
acted on the human mind ; the traditions of
deluges, preserved among almost every people,
are derived from these marine productions
thus scattered over the earth. Those not less
universal ideas of giants, are owing to the dis-
covery of larger bones than any produced in
those climates, where, from time to time,
they have been found." After mentioning the
spirit of investigation, which from these effects
has sought their solution among wild and in-
consistent theories, until a better philosophy
has determined to reject them all, and establish
nothing but upon the immutable basis of
facts — facts which are collecting from every
source for mutual elucidation, and already
more abundant than could have been expected
when the practice first was adopted j he pro-
ceeds to state, that what relates to the fossil
remains of quadrupeds has been least of all
attended to, although unquestionably the
most interesting of any, from the fewness of
their numbers and the extent and accuracy of
our knowledge of such as are living ; whereas,
with respect to fossil shells and fishes, who
can say which among them is not hid in the
bosom of the ocean ?
" Notwithstanding these reasons in favour
of the preference to be given to the study of
the fossil bones of quadrupeds, the celebrated
men, whom I have just mentioned*, have
been stopped in their reseaches by two kinds
of difficulties. On one hand, these bones arc
more difficult to be collected than any other
fossils ; rarely are they found in good preser-
vation ^ the workmen who discover them pay
little attention to them, frequently suspecting
them to be no other than the bones of ordi-
nary men and quadrupeds: often even the
learned have overlooked those delicate vari-
ations which distinguish them from the living
species. On the other hand, it is not always
easy to make the proper comparisons -, — com*
parative anatomy has but just emerged from
* Woodward, Whiston, Leibnitz, BufFon, Sloanc, Messer-
schmidt, Daubenton, Camper, Blumenbach, Hunter, Rofe-
miiller, Faujas.
6
infancy, and in all Europe there are scarcely
more than two or three places where every
object may be found necessary to such an exact
comparison.
*^ It is to these two causes we must attri-
bute the little knowledge we possess on this
subject, and the errors which reign even in the
most esteemed works."
In this interesting memoir of M. Cuvier,
whose researches into this subject have been
indefatigable and profound, there are men-
tioned no less than twenty-three different
species of animals which are now extnict, but
whose existence in former ages is attested by
their fossil remains ; no recent production of
the sort having ever been authenticated. The
first on this list is that animal whose tusks af-
ford the fossil ivory so common in Siberia,
which was generally supposed to be the same
as the elephant of Asia, but which he has
proved, in another memoir, not only to have
surpassed it in size, but to have differed from it
very considerably, although certainly a species
of the same genus : similar remains have been
found in various parts of Europe and Asia *,
" The second of these species is that to
which the English, and the inhabitants of the
United States, have transferred the name of
Mammoth, v^hich properly belongs to the
first, It is equally large, but its enormous
teeth, armed with conic processes, give to it
a peculiar character. Great quantities of
these are found on the borders of tlie Ohio,
to the west of the United States, whence al-
most every cabinet in Europe and America has
been supplied."
It appears that about the year 1740, great
numbers of bones, of this kind, were found in
Kentucky, either washed from the banks of
the Ohio,, or dug up in its neighbourhood >
* It is not so generally known as it should be, that bones
and teeth, similar to such as are found in Siberia, have been
discovered in several parts of England. Mr. Wansey, of
Salisbury, sent for my inspection some which were dug in
Salisbury Plains ; others have been found in the Isle of Dogs-i
some near Bristol, &c. These fossil remains deserve more
attention than they have hitherto received ; but it is hoped a
proper collection of them may be formed, and tlie subject
rightly investigated.
8
but they were collected with such eagerness,
and forwarded to Europe so hastily, that it
shortly became impossible to distinguish one
set of bones from another, so as to ascertain
their number, proportion, and kind ; parts of
the same animal having been scattered over
England, France, and Germany, and thus
their re-union rendered next to impossible,
BufFon *, speaking of one of these thigh-bones
brought from the Ohio by the way of Canada,
which he describes as being the tenth of an
inch shorter than one from Siberia, and yet an
inch thicker, says : " This disproportion is so
great as hitherto to deceive me with respect to
this bone, though it otherwise resembles, both
in the external figure and internal structure,
the femur of the elephant (he should have
said, the femur found in Siberia), mentioned
under the number dcdlxxxvii. The dif-
ference in thickness, which appeared exces-
sive, seemed sufficient to attribute this bone
to another animal which must have been
larger than the elephant j but as no such
animal is known, recourse must be had to the
* Vol. XI. page 169, No. Mxxxv. Autre Femur d'Elephant,
pretended Mammoth, a fabulous animal,
supposed to inhabit the regions of the north,
where are frequently found bones, teeth, and
tusks resembling those of the elephant/'
This paragraph of Mons. de Buffon has
given rise, in an extraordinary manner, to
several errors. Inasmuch as these bones and
teeth, which are found in Siberia, differ from
those of the living elephants, they are to be
taken as proofs of the former existence of
another species no longer known, having the
same generic characters, but differing speci-
fically. We are not compelled to adopt M.
BufFon's aversion to the idea of any race of
animals becoming extinct, but we are forced
to submit to concurring facts as the voice of
God — the bones exist — the animals do not !
The Russian peasants, when they were inter-
ro2:ated as to the bones found in Siberia,
attributed theii], in a fabulous manner, to the
Mammoth, *' of whom, (says Strahlenburgh)
they told and believed the most extraordinary
stories:" we must all, therefore, agree with
BuffoUj that as these Siberian bones were
really elephantine, the tales of the Mammoth,
c
lO
as an animal fo called^ are entirely fabulous 5
the name being a corruption from the Behomet,
signifying an animal of large size, and there-
fore applied to bones that were certainly of a
large size : — but when bones of equal or su-
perior magnitude were found on the Ohio, in
America, they were supposed to be of the
same species, and therefore called Mammoth, by
which name they have been known for sixty
years, and called so by thousands who knew
not the origin of the word. The Siberian
bones turn out to be elephantine; those of
America, particularly from the teetli, cannot
be: therefore, since the animal was not an
elephant, naturalists are now agreed in the
propriety of distinguishing it by the name of
Mammoth ; not as a name by which, when
living, it was ever called, but as a term well
appropriated to express its quality of super-
eminent magnitude.
After reciting the account given by Mr.
Fabry, who states the place and manner in
which Mr. le Baron de Longueuil, Mr. de
Bienville, and Mr. de Lignery (lieutenant in
Canada), found some of these bones and teeth
II
on the Ohio, in 1740, BiifFon proceeds: "Mr,
du Hamel, of the Royal Academy of Sciences,
•informs us that Mr. de Longueuii had likewise
brought, in 1740, some very large grinders,
found in Canada, and perhaps with the tusk
and femur which I shall mention. These
teeth have no characters in common with
those of the elephant, but greatly resemble the
teeth of the hippopotamus, so that there is
reason to believe they may be part of that
animal; for it can never be supposed that
these teeth could have been taken from the
same head with the tusks, or that it could have
made part of the same skeleton with the femur
above-mentioned: in supposing this, it would
be necessary to suppose an unknown ani-
mal, which had tusks similar to those of
the elephant, and grinders resembling those
of the hippopotamus. (Voyez les Memoir es de
VAcademie Roy ale des Sciences^ Annee 1762./'
Here M. de BufTon, hovever unwillingly,
has drawn a true picture of the Mammoth,
with some little variation, ii:^asmuch as the
tusks do resemble those of the elephant, except
in having a greater curve and spiral twist, an4
c 2
12
necessarily a diflerent position; and as the
teeth do resemble, though greatly exceeding in
size, those of the hyppopotamus which arc
in the back of the jaw, and consequently not
worn ; except that in the latter there are sel-
dom more than three prongs, or blunt-pointed
protuberances, on the surface, which is after-
wards worn down ; whereas in this animal the
large teeth have four and five, and the small
teeth three and four ridges of high conic pro-
cesses, very differently arranged from those
of the former: besides that, in the hippo-
potamus, the enamel which commences, as in
the sheep, upon the outside, likewise pervades
the substance of the tooth, and renders
them, when ground flat (as they always are in
adult animals)^ efficacious in reducing the ve-
getable food; whereas in the Mammoth
the enamel is wholly superficial, and the
tooth never wears flat, because it has not the
grinding motion.
Mr. Collin son. Member of the Royal Socie-
ty, in a letter on this subject to M. BufFon"*^,
* Buffon, Tome XIII. Notes jullificative, page 224.
13
after describing the situation of the salt lick
on the Ohio, where an amazing number of
bones of the elephant, as he imagined them to
be, were found, together with teeth totally
unlike those of the elephant, concludes thus :
" But the large teeth which I send you. Sir,
were found with those tusks or defences :
others yet larger than these shew, nay de-
monstrate, that they did not belong to ele-
phants. How shall we reconcile this para-
dox ? May w^e not suppose that there existed
formerly a large animal with the tusks of the
elephant and the grinders of the hippopota-
mus ? For these large grinders are very dif-
ferent from those of the elephant j" (and sub-
sequent examination proves them to be as
different from those of the hippopotamus.)
" Mr. Croghan thinks, from the great number
of this kind of teeth, that is, the tusks and
grinders which he saw in that place, that
there had been at least thirty of these ani-
mals*: yet the elephant never was known in
* The number could only be determined by the quantity
oi duplicate bones— there must have been the remains of se-
veral of them ; and it is very certain that in the same neigh-
bourhood the number must have been very great indeed, con-
H
America, and probably could not have been
carried there from Asia: the impossibility
that they could have lived there, owing to the
severity of the winters, and where, notwith-
standing such a quantity of their bones is
found, is a paradox which v/e leave to your
eminent wisdom to solve." This determina-
tion M. BufFon gives us in the following
terms, although in direct contradiction to
those passages in which he labours to prove
that the bones found in Siberia and America
were, in both instances, belonging to the ele-
phant : " Thus every thing leads us to beheve
that this ancient species, which must be re-
garded as the first and largest of terrestrial
animals, has not existed since the earliest times,
and is totally unknown to us : for an animal,
whose species was larger than that of an ele-
^idering the quantities taken away at various times, the diffi-
culty of digging, and the small extent of ground which has
been examined, by those whose only object is to colled the
water for the salt it contains. Stupendous and powerful as
this animal was, could he have been gregarious ? or may not
these be the collected carcases of such as have been bemired
in the course of many years ? or may they not have been thus
collected by the effect of water ? Not knowing the form of
the country, I pretend to form no judgment. R. p.
15
phant, could hide itself in no part of the
earth so as to remain unknown : besides, it is
evident from the form of these teeth alone,
from their enamel and the disposition of their
roots, that they bear no resemblance to the ca-
chelots, or other cetaceous animals, and that
they really belonged to a terrestrial animal,
whose species approached that of the hippopo-
tamus more than any other.'*
In this state of uncertainty continued the
knowledge of these extraordinary remains of
the great American Incognitum^ as it was fre-
quently called, until a recent discovery in the
neighbourhood of our cities, afforded us al-
most a complete idea of the whole skeleton ;
and the world is now in possession of tv/o un-
disputed skeletons of this animal, found in
such situations as leave no room for conjec-
ture ; each skeleton being dug up in a sepa-
rate place, without any intermixture of foreirn
bones, and each bone exactly adapted to its cor-
responding points of articulation. One of these
skeletons is erected, as a permanent speci-
men, at my father's museum, in Philadelphia,
where it will remain a monument, not only of
I
i6
stupendous creation, and some wonderful re-
volution in nature, but of the scientific zeal,
and indefatigable perseverance, of a man from
whose private exertions a museum has been
founded, surpassed by few in Europe, and
likely to become a national establishment, on
the most liberal plan. The other skeleton,
discovered a few miles distant from the for-
mer, I have brought with me to Europe,
NARRATIVE.
IN the spring of 1 80 1, receiving informa-
tion from a scientific correspondent in the
state of New- York, that in the autumn of 1799,
many bones of the Mam moth had been found
in digging a marle-pit in the vicinity of Nev^-
burgh, which is situated on the river Hudson,
sixty-seven miles from the city of New- York,
my father, Charles Wilson Peale, immediately
proceeded to the spot, and through the po-
liteness of Dr. Graham, whose residence on
the banks of the W:iM-kill enabled him to be
present when most of the bones were dug up,
received every information with respect to
what had been done, and the most probable
means of future success. The bones that had
been found were then in the possession of the
farmer who discovered them, heaped on the floor
of his garret or granary, where they were oc-
casionally visited by the curious. These m^y
D
i8
father was fortunate to make a purchase of*,
together with the right of digging up the re-
mainder ; and, immediately packing them up,
sent them on to Philadelphia. But as the far-
mer's fields were then in grain, the enterprize
of further investigation was postponed for a
short time.
The whole of this part of the country
abounding with morasses, solid enough for
cattle to walk over, containing peat, or turf
and shell marie, it is the custom of the far-
mers to assist each other, in order to obtain
a quantity of the marie for manure. Pits
are dug generally twelve feet long and five
feet wide at the top, lessening to three feet at
* They consisted of all the neck, most of the vertebrsB of
the back, and some of the tail ; most of the ribs, in greater
part broken ; both fcapulae ; both humeri, with the radii and
ulns ; one femur ; a tibia of one leg, and a fibula of the other ;
some large fragments of the head ; many of the fore and hind
feet bones; the pelvis fomewhat broken; and a large frag-
ment, five feet long, of one tusk, about mid-way. He
therefore was in want of some of the back and tail bones,
some of the ribs, the under jaw, one whole tusk and part of
the other, the breast bone, one thigh, and a tibia and fibula,
and many of the feet bones.
«9
the bottom. The peat or turf is thrown on
lands not immediately in use ; and the marie,
after mellowing through the winter, is in the
spring scattered over the cultivated fields — the
most luxuriant crops are the consequence.—
It was in digging one of these, on the farm of
John Masten, that one of the men, thrusting
his spade deeper than usual, struck what he
supposed to be a log of wood, but on cutting
it to ascertain the kind, to his astonishment,
he found it was a bone : it was quickly cleared
from the surrounding earth, and proved to be
that of the thigh, three feet nine inches in
length, and eighteen inches in circumference,
in the smallest part. The search was con-
tinued, and the same evening several other
bones were discovered. The fame of it soon
spread through the neighbourhood, and excited
a general interest in the pursuit: all were
eager, at the expence of some exertions, to gra-
tify their curiosity in seeing the ruins of an
animal so gigantic, of whose bones very few
among them had ever heard, and over which
they had so often unconsciously trod. For
the two succeeding days upwards of an hun-
D 2
20
dred men were actively engaged, encouraged
by several gentlemen, chiefly physicians, of
the neighbourhood, and success the most san-
guine attended their labours : but, unfortu-
nately, the habits of the men requiring the
use of spirits, it was afforded them in too great
profusion, and they quickly became so impa-
tient and unruly, that they had nearly destroy-
ed the skeleton ^ and, in one or two instances,
usnig oxen and chains to drag them from the
clay and marie, the head, hips, and tusks
were much broken j some parts being drawn
out, and others left behind. So great a quan-
tity of water, from copious springs, bursting
from the bottom, rose upon the men, that it
required several score of hands to lade it out
with all the milk-pails, buckets, and bowls,
they could collect in the neighbourhood. All
their ingenuity was exerted to conquer diffi-
culties that every hour increased upon their
hands : they even made and sunk a large cof-
ferdam, and within it found many valuable
fmall bones. The fourth day so much water
had risen in the pit, that they had not courage
to attack it again. In this state we found it in
1801. 9,
21
It was a curious circumstance attending the
purchase of these bones, that the sum which
was paid for them was little more than one-
third of what had been offered to the farmer for
them by another, and refused not long before.
This anecdote may not be uninteresting to the
moralist, and I shall explain it. The farmer,
of German extraction — and like many others
in America, speaking the language of his
fathers better than that of his country — was
born on his farm j he was brought up to it as
a business, and it continued to be his pleasure
in old age J not because it was likely to free
him from labour, but because profit, and the
prospect of profit, cheered him in it, until the
end was forgotten in the means. — Intent upon
manuring his lands, to increase its produc-
tion (always laudable) he felt no interest in the
fossil shells contained in his morass j and had
it not been for the men who dug with him,
and those whose casual attention was arrested,
or who were drawn by report to the spot, for
him the bones might have rotted in the hole
which discovered them : this he confefTed to
me would have been his conduct, certain that
after the surprise of the moment they v;ere
zz
good for nothing but to rot as manure. But
the learned physician, the reverend divine,
to whom he had been accustomed to look up-
wards, gave importance to the objects which
excited the vulgar stare of his more inquisitive
neighbours: he therefore joined his exertions
to theirs, to recover as many of the bones as
possible. With him, hope v^as every thing;
with the men, cui-iosity did much, but rum
did more, and some little was owing to certain
prospects which they had of sharing in the
future possible profit. It is possible he might
have encourag:!d this idea ; his fear of it, how-
ever, seems to have given him some uneasi-
ness ; for v/hen he was offered a small sum
for the bones, it appeared too little to divide ;
and when a larger sum, he fain would have
engrossed the whole of it, or persuade himself
that the real value might be something greater.
Ignorant of what had been offered him, my
father's application was in a critical moment,
and the farmer accepted his price, on condi-
tion that he should receive a new gun for his
son, and new gowns for his wife and daughters,
with some other articles of the same class.
The farmer was glad they were out of his
1 "^
granary, and that they were in a few days to
be two hundred miles distantj and my father
was no less pleased with the consciousness,
and on which every one complimented him,
that they were in the hands of one who would
spare no exertions to make the best use of
them. The neighbours, who had assisted the
farmer in this discovery, envious of his good
fortune, sued him for a share in the profit ;
but they gained nothing more than a dividend
of the costs J it appearing that they had been
satisfied with the gratification of their curi-
osity, and the quality and quantity of the rum,
and no one to prove that he had given them
reason to hope for a share in the price of any
thing his land might happen to produce.
Not willing to lose the advantage of an un-
commonly dry season, when the springs in the
morass were low, we proceeded on the arduous
enterprize. In New York every article was
provided which might be necessary in sur-
mounting expected difficulties ; such as a
pump, ropes, pullies, augers, &c. ; boards and
plank wei^e provided in the neighbourhood^
24
unci timber was in sufficient plenty on the
spot.
Confident that nothing could be done with-
out having a perfect command of the water,
the first idea was to drain it by a ditch ; but
the necessary distance of perhaps half a mile,
presented a length of labour that appeared im-
mense. It was, therefore, resolved to throw
the water into a natural bason about sixty feet
distant, the upper edge of which was about
ten feet above the level of the water. An in-
genious mill-wright constructed the machi-
neryj and after a week of close labour, com-
pleted a large scaffolding and a wheel twenty
feet diameter, wide enough for three or four
men to walk a-breast in: a rope round this
turned a small spindle, which worked a chain
of buckets regulated by a floating cylinder :
the water, thus raised, was emptied into a
trough, which conveyed it to the basons a
ship's pump assisted, and towards the latter
part of the operation, a pair of half barrels, in.
removing the mud. This machine worked so
powerfully, that in the second day the water
25
was lowered so much as to enable them to dig,
and in a few hours they were rewarded with
several small bones.
The road which passed through this farm
was a highway, and the attention of every tra-
veller was arrested by the coaches, waggons,
chaises, and horses, which animated the road,
or were collected at the entrance of the field :
rich and poor, men, women, and children, all
flocked to see the operation ; and a swamp
always noted as the solitary abode of fnakes
and frogs, became the active scene of curiosity
and bustle: most of the spectators v/ere asto-
nished at the purpose which could prompt
such vigorous and expensive exertions, in a
manner so unprecedented, and so foreign to
the pursuits for which they v^ere noted. —
But the amusement was not wholly on their
side; and the variety of company not only
amused us, but tended to encourage the work-
men, each of whom, before so many spectators,
was ambitious of signalizing himself by the
number of his discoveries.
. For several weeks no exertions were spared,
E
26
and the most unremitting were required to
insure success : bank after bank fell in ; the
increase of water was a constant impediment,
the extreme coldness of which benumbed the
workmen. Each day required some new ex-
pedient, and the carpenter was always making
additions to the machinery : every day bones
and pieces of bones were found between six
and seven feet deep, but none of the most im-
portant ones. But the greatest obstacle to
the search was occasioned by the shell marie
which formed the lower stratum ; this, ren-
dered thin by the springs at the bottom, was,
by the weight of the whole morass, always
pressed upwards on the workmen to a certain
height J which, without an incalculable ex-
pence, it was impossible to prevent. Twenty-
five hands at high vv^ages v/ere almost constantly
employed at work which was so uncomfortable
and severe, that nothing but their anxiety to
see the head, and particularly the under jaw,
could have kept up their resolution. The pa-
tience of employer and workmen was at length
exhausted, and the work relinquished without
obtaining those interesting parts, the want of
v/hich rendered it impoowible to form a com-
plete skeleton.
It would not have been a very difficult mat
ter to put these bones together, and they
would have presented the general appearance
of the skeleton J but the under jaw was broken
to pieces in the first attempt to get out the
bones, and nothing but the teeth and a few
fragments of it were now found 3 the tail was
mostly wanting, and some toe-bones. It was,
therefore, a desirable object, not only to pro-
cure some knowledge of these deficient parts,
but if possible to find some other skeleton in
such order as to see the position, and correctly
to ascertain the number of the bones. In the
course of eighteen years there had been found
within twelve miles of this spot, a bone or two
in seven different places : concerning these we
made particular inquiries, but found that most
of the morasses had been since drained, and con-
sequently either the bones had been exposed to
a certain decay j or else so deep, that a fortune
might have been spent in the fruitless pursuit.
But through the polite attention of Dr.Galatian,
we were induced to examine a small morass,
eleven miles distant from the former, belonging
to Capt. J. Barber, where, eight years before,
four ribs had been found in digging a pit.
E 2
28
From the description which was given of their
position, and the appearance of the morass,
we began our operations with all the vigour a
certainty of success could inspire. Nearly a
week was consumed in making a ditch, by
which all the water was carried off, except
what a hand pump could occasionally empty :
the digging, therefore, was less difficult than
that at Masten's, though still tedious and un-
pleasant ; particularly as the sun, unclouded
as it had been for seven weeks, poured its
scorching rays on the morass, so circumscribed
with trees, that the western breeze afforded no
refreshment: yet nothing could exceed the ar-
dour of the men, particularly of one, a gigantic
and athletic negro, who exulted in the most
laborious choice, although he seemed melting
with the heat. Almost an entire set of ribs
were found, lying pretty much together, and
very entire 3 but as none of the back bones
were found near them (a sufficient proof of
their having been scattered,) our latitude
for search was extended to very uncertain
limits : therefore, after working about two
weeks, and finding nothing belonging to the
head but two rotten tusks (part of one of
- 29
them is with the skeleton here), three or four
small grinders, a few vertebrae of the back and
tail, a broken scapula, some toe-bones, and
the ribs, found between four and seven feet
deep-T-a reluctant terminating pause ensued.
These bones were kept distinct from those
found at Masten's, as it would not be proper
to incorporate into one skeleton any other than
the bones belonging to it ; and nothing more
was intended than to collate the corresponding
parts. These bones were chiefly valuable as
specimens of the individual parts j but no bone
was found among them which was deficient in
the former collection, and therefore our chief
object was defeated. To have failed in so
small a morass was rather discouraging; to the
idea of making another attempt; and yet the
smallness of the m.orass was probably the cause
of our failure, as it was extremely probable
the bones we could not find were long since
decayed, from being situated on the rising
slope at no considerable depth, unprotected
by the shell marie, which lay only in the lower
part of the bason forming the morass. When
every exertion was given over, \yc could not
but look at the surrounding unexplored parts
5^
with some concern, uncertain how near we
might have been to the discovery of all that
we wanted, and regretting the probabiUty that,
in consequence of the drain we had made, a
few years would wholly destroy the venerable
objects of our research.
Almost in despair at our failure in the
last place, where so much was expected,
it was with very little spirit we mounted
our horses on another enquiry. Crossing
the Walkiil at the falls, we ascended over
a double swelling hill into a rudely cul-
tivated country, about twenty miles west
from the Hudson, where, in a thinly settled
neighbourhood, lived the honest farmer Peter
Millspav/, who, three years before, had dis-
covered several bones : from his log hut,
he accompanied us to the morass. — It was
impossible to resist the solemnity of thj;
approach to this venerable spot, vv^hich was
surrounded by a fence of safety to the cat-
tle without. Here we fastened our horfes,
and followed our guide into the center of
the m.orass, or rather marshy forest, where
every step was taken on rotten timber and
the spreading roots of tall trees, the luxuri-
3«
ant growth of a few years, half of which
were tottenng over our heads. Breathless
silence had here taken her reign amid un-
healthy fogs, and nothing was heard but
the fearful crash of fome mouldering branch
or towering beach. It was almost a dead
level, and the holes dug for the purpofe of
manure, out of which a few bones had been
taken six or seven years before, were full of
water, and connected with others containing
a vast quantity j so that to empty one was to
empty them all 5 yet a last effort might be
crowned with success ; and, since so many dif-
ficulties haJ been conquered, it was refolved
to embrace the only opportunity that now of-
fered for any farther discovery. Machinery
was accordingly erected, pumps and buckets
were employed, and a long course of troughs
conducted the water, among the distant roots,
to a fall of a few inches ; by which tlie men
were enabled, unmolested, except by the caving
in of the banks, to dig on every fide from the
spot where the first discovery of the bones
had been made.
Here alternate success and dissapointment
32 - '
amused and fatigued us for a long while j un-
til with empty pockets, low spirits, and
languid workmen, we were about to quit the
morass with but a small collection, though
in good preservation, of ribs, toe and leg
bones, &c. In the meanwhile, to leave no
means untried, the ground was searched in
various directions with long-pointed rods and
cross handles : after some practice, we were
able to distinguish by the feel whatever sub-
stances we touched harder than the soili and
by this means, in a very unexpected direction,
though not more than twenty feet from the
first bones that were discovered, struck upon
a large collection of bones, which were dug
to and taken up with every possible care.
They proved to be a humerus, or large bone
of the right leg, v/ith the radius and ulna of
the left, the right scapula, the atlas, several
toe-bones, and, the great object of our pur*-
suit, a complete under jaw !
After such a variety of labour and length of
fruitless expectation, this success was ex-
tremely grateful to all parties, and the un-
conscious woods echoed with repeated huzzas,
33
which could not have been more animated if
every tree had participated in the joy. " Gra-
cious God, what a jaw ! how many animals
have been crushed between it !" was the ex-
clamation of all : a fresh supply of grog went
round, and the hearty fellows, covered with
mud, continued the search with encreafing
vigour. The upper part of the head was
found twelve feet distant, but so extremely
rotten that we could only preserve the teeth
and a few fragments. In its form it exactly
resembled the head found at Masten's j but, as
that was much injured by rough usage, this,
from its small depth beneath the surface, had
the cranium so rotted away as only to shew
the form around the teeth, and thence extend-
ing to the condyles of the neck -, the rotten
bone formed a black and greasy mould above
that part which was still entire, yet so tender
as to break to pieces on lifting it from its
bed.
This collection was rendered still more com-
plete by the addition of those formerly taken
up, and presented to us by Drs. Graham and
Post, They were a rib, the sternum, a femur,
F
34
tibia and fibula, and a patella or knee-panJ
One of the ribs had found its way into an ob-
scure farm-house, ten miles distant, to which
we fortunately traced it.
Thus terminated this strange and laborious
campaign of three months, during which we
Were wonderfully favoured, although vegeta-
tion suffered, by the driest season which had
occurred within eight years. Our venerable
relics were carefully packed up in distinct
cases ; and, loading two waggons with them,
we bade adieu to the vallies and stupendous
mountains of Shawangunk : so called by their
former inhabitants, the Indians of the Dela-
ware tribe. The three sets of bones were
kept distinct : with the two collections which
were most numerous, it was intended to form
two skeletons, by still keeping them separate,
and filling up the deficiencies in each by arti-
ficial imitations from the other, and from
counterparts in themselves. For inflance, in
order to complete the first skeleton, which was
found at Masten's, the under jaw was to be
modelled from this, which is the only intire
one that has yet been discovered, although we
35
have seen considerable fragments of at leaft
ten different jaws : while on the other hand,
in the skeleton just discovered at Barber's, the
upper jaw, which was found in the extreme of
decay, was to be completed, so far as it goes,
from the more solid fragment of the head be-
longing to the skeleton found at Masten's.
Several feet-bones in this skeleton were to be
made from that ; and a few in that were to
be made from this. In this the right humerus
being real, the imitation for the left one could
be made with the utmoft certainty j and the
radius and ulna of the left leg being real,
those on the right side would follow in course,
&c. The collection of ribs in both cases was
pretty intire j therefore, having discovered
from a correspondence between the number of
vertebrae and ribs in both animals, that there
were nineteen pair of the latter, it y^as neces-
sary in only four or five instances to supply
the counterparts, hy correct models from the
real bones. In this manner the two skeletons
were formed, and are in both instances com-
posed of the appropriate bones of the animal,
or exact imitations from the real bones in the
same skeleton, or from those of the same pro-
F 2
36
portion in the other. Nothing in either skele-
ton is imaginary ; and what Vv^e have not un^
questionable authority for we leave deficient,
which happens in,- only two instances, thq
summit of the head, and the fWof the tail.
COMPARATIVE DESCRIPTION.
THE skeleton of the Mammoth, as it is
first hastily glanced at, impresses the idea of
the elephant, to which, in its general contour
it hears some resemblance; yet, on a closer
examination, even the general figure is found
to vary considerably ; and a closer inspection
will shew that many of the bones differ in a most
extraordinary manner. The supposition which
necessarily accompanies this^rj^ impression is,
that the habits and foodof the two animals must
have been similar. This hasty mode of decision
is the parent of prejudice and obstinate error;
and nothing better can be said of it, than that
it is not unnatural, but such as we should
expect from minds little accustomed to inves-
tigation, and rather disposed to confide in
common-place facts, than to inquire into the
possibility of new ones, especially if they are
in opposition to their prejudices.
I
38
Among all the difFerent genera of quadru-
peds with which we are acquainted, a more
striking dissimilarity prevails between their
heads than any other parts ; and the reason is
obvious : members that are to answer exactly
the same purpose, in difFerent animals, never
differ 3 but an appropriate form of bone always
accompanies pecuhar modes of action and
habits of repose, which by constant use are
more and more confirmed: hence, animals
wholly difFerent from each other, except in a
few instances, are more immediately distin-
guished by the heads than any other part ; not
only* because their forms are more decidedly
pecuhar, but because the inexperienced eye
can better remark them than such as may exist
in other bones which are of more difficult com-
parison, and more multiform in their parts :
for to judge correctly in osteological compari-
sons requires not so much the knowledge of
the anatomist as the eye of the artist : — and
I maintain it as a fact, in which every candid
anatomist and every artist will join with me,
that the mere artist, by a little attention to
the variations of form, will sooner, and with
more certainty, establish the characters of
39
skeletons, than the most learned anatomist,
whose eye has not been accustomed in an in-
stant to seize on every peculiarity : the slow
anatomist may be sure, but unless he devofes^
himself to the abstracted study of his subject,
he falls short of correct information. It is,
therefore, evident, that our hopes of correct
knowledge on this subject must rest on those
in whom the two characters are combined.
For my part, my decisions are pronounced
with no other authority than that of an artist,
pretending to very little more knowledge of
anatomy than gives me the names and uses of
the bones -, but, when forms and the right
comparison of lines and angles is the subject
of investigation, I feel myself, as every artist
must, perfectly confident in the assertion of
truth.
HEAD.
What there remains of the head is of so
peculiar a construction that it must be ob-
vious, to the most inexperienced eye. The
cranium being deficient, there remains (besides
the under jaw) only that portion of it wliich is
40
comprised between the condyle of the neck and
the sockets for the tusks, the temporal bone^
zygomatic process, and the teeth : this, there-
fore, compared with the corresponding por-
tion of the elephant's head *, taking the level
of the teeth in both as a base line from which
to measure, will be found com.paratively much
longer for its height -f-. In the Mammoth J the
sockets of the tusks at A. to the condyle of
the neck B. is nearly a horizontal line ; in the
Elephant, a line between the same parts, forms
with the horizon, an angle of nearly 45 de-
grees. In the Mammoth, a line from the
zygomatic process at C. to the condyle of the
neck B. descejids as much as it rises in the Ele-
phant, producing a difference comprised within
an angle of 45 degrees. In the Mammoth, the
condyle of the neck is situated very nearly
upon a line with the level of the teeth : in the
Elephant it is as much above the teeth as it is
distant from the frontal bone; consequently
the ear of the Mammoth is very little above
the horizontal line of the teeth, and in the
* See the plate, figure I.
t Tills proportion is taken notice of by Camper, in his late
folio work on the anatomy of the elephant, page 24.
X Figure II.
4t
Elephant there is a vast distance between
them* In the Elephant, as in most other
quadrupeds, the socket of the eye is, as it
were, scooped out of the zygomatic process
at C. J in the Mammoth that portion of the
bone at C. is sufficiently perfect to shew that
there is no such socket : the eye of the Mam-
moth, therefore, must have been higher than
the ear ; in the Elephant it is lower than the
ear. One consequence of this uncommon
situation of the teeth below the condyle of the
neck in the Elephant, is, that the arms of
the under jaw to the condyloid processes are
extremely long, insomuch, that the height of
the jaw is equal to the length 3 whereas in the
Mammoth it has the more usual appearance of
length, with but short processes, the coronoid
being longer and thinner than the condyloid ;
but in the Elephant the reverse is the case :
the general form of the under jaw of this ani-
mal is made up of three distinct angles ; one
horizontal, on which the jaw rests (when
placed on a table), from the front to the back,
where a small corner appears cut off, whence
it rises perpendicularly to the condyle. The
same view of the Elephant's jaw exhibits very
G
42
nearly a regular portion of a circle without
any angles. In the Mammoth, what is called
the semi-lunar notch from the condyloid to the
coronoid processes, is very strongly marked ;
but in the Elephant no such notch exists.
In the Mammoth the bone from E. to a. is
extremely thin and rugged j in the Elephant
it is smooth, and being semi-cylindrical (as
well as circular) is unusually bulky, and well
adapted to the peculiar formation of the Ele-
phant's teethe In the Elephant the under jaw
terminates in a grooved point, directed down-
wards(D.); the corresponding part in the Mam-
moth has a most extraordinary roughness, com-
posed of foliated or thin irregularly involuted
processes, indicating some unusual and im-
mense appendage, — This part, in some degree,
resembles the Walrus. And lastly, in the
under jaw of the Elephant, the opposite grind-
ers, which in the back of the jaw are very distant
from each other, approach towards an open in
the front ; whereas in the Mammoth they are
completely parallel with each other. These va-
riations produce a very different outline in the
opening between the teeth, as you look at the
jaws in front: in the Mammoth, it is a portion
4S
of a circle ; in the Elephant it accords with the
figure of a pear. Glancing rapidly from one
head to the other, the eye will readily notice
other pecuharities, which are not of sufficient
importance particularly to mention here.
TEETH.
From their size, structure, and mechani-
cal action, the teeth are much the most inte-
resting part to the anatomist. From their
uncommon size, there are but few of them -,
(eight being sufficient to fill the jaws j) two
large ones in the back, and two small ones in
the front of each jaw : the large teeth have
Jour obliquely trajisverse conic ridges ov processes;
the small ones three with the same characters,
so disposed as to interlock with each other, in
the manner of a crimping-machine, only all
at once, with an irresistible power. These
conic processes are covered with i thick coat
of enamel, wholly superjicialy reaching down on
every side to the alveolar processes, in the
manner of all carnivorous animals. There is
a section of one in the British Museum, which
G 2
44
shews that the enamel does not, in the slight-
est degree, pervade the tooth, as it does in the
Elephant. The teeth of the Asiatic Elephant
are composed of numerous perpendicular plates
of enamel, so connected by pairs at the sides,
as to form to appearance on the surface, long
flattened ovals j and, in fact, they are united
at bottom as well as originally at the surface,
which is quickly worn off, and which then dis-
closes an ivory of close texture, and different
formation from that which separates from each
other these flattened ovals of enamel. The teeth
of the African differ from those of the Asiatic
Elephant in having fewer portions of thicker
enamel, which do not run parallel with each
other in plates, but are so disposed that, on
the surface of the tooth, or a horizontal sec-
tion of it, the ivory enclosed within the ena-
mel resembles a cross, consequently the teeth
are better adapted to coarser vegetables and
greater rotatory motion ^,
I have seen some teeth of the Mammoth
with the summits of their enamel-capped pro-
* See the plate, figure III. and IV.
45
cesses so worn off as to present, to those ^r^-
disposed to adopt the idea, some resemblance, in
the-superficial linesy to the teeth of the African
Elephant ; but no one could look with any de-
gree of attention at any tooth of this animal,
without discovering that the enamel absolutely
covers the whole upper surface^ except where
it is worn off *, and that it never penetrates
to the interior of the tooth -f*.
* The enamel in the Elephant's teeth never wears ciF, it
only wears down.
f This incorrect observation, of some teeth of the Mam-
moth, has induced several anatomists to class this animal as
a species of Elephant, more analagous to the African than
the Asiatic. Any conclusions from so false an observation
would be of no consequence, if they were not given by some
of the first characters. Among others, Camper, in his
elegant work on the anatomy of the Elephant, page 24,
when he speaks of the fossil bones from the Ohio, which,
on the authority (in this instance incorrect) of the celebrated
CuviER, he classes as a fourth species of Elephant, says
thus: — " 4. The American Elephant (so called by .Pennant)
with bones considerably more bulky than the former (mean-
ing the Siberean bones), with a lengthened and prodigiously
heavy head and long tusks : his grinders, more numerous, are
composed of three or four plates (plaques) first crowned with
tubercles, and then marked with a double leaf of clover
(marquees d^une double femlle de trejle). This prolongation
4^ ^
It is evident from the structure and position
of these teeth, that they never could have been
used in grinding vegetables, but in crushing
or champing some hard and brittle substances,
such as shell-fish, &c. There are three facts
to prove that they did not grind the food :
I St. the interlocking of the conic processes;
2dly. their oblique direction, so that the ridges
or cavities on one side of the jaw do not run
parallel vv^ith those on the other, which most
effectually prevents a lateral motion — this
important character has been entirely over-
looked— and 3dly. the condyloid processes,
which are trajisversely cblong, running perfectly
parallel vvith. each (as true hinges) and working
in a groove, from which they cannot rotate.
of the jaws, influencing the obliquity of the profile, must
have given a singular reclination to the facial line, in dimi-
nishing the relative height of the vertical axis of the head.-^
This extinct species, as the first, was more analagous to the
African Elephant than the Asiatic."
On this paragraph I shall only remark, that his imaginary
plates do not exist in the teeth ; and that I know not what he
means by his '" double feuille de tr}Jle" unless it is the outline
formed by the worn edges of the enamel, as observed before ;
but that his observations with respect to the contour of the
head are perfectly correct.
47
' An uniform composition of tooth, as It re-
spects the intermixture of enamel and bone,
running from the surface to the roots, is
observed to prevail in those of the Ele-
phant, Horse, Ox, &c. they principally differ
in the figure which those veins of enamel
assume, and by which alone they may be
discriminated from each other. On the other
hand, carnivorous teeth, incrusted with ena-
mel as far as the gums, vary in the form and
number of their protuberances, so as generally
to designate their species : yet among them
there is a proper distinction to be observed ;
which is, that those carnivorous animals, the
form of whose teeth, and the attachment of
whose jaws, allow them the side or grinding
motion, are always of the mixt kind. Man,
the Monkey, Hog, &c. are carnivorous ani-
mals, because their teeth are incrusted vi^ith
enamel, and because they eat flesh ; yet
they are adapted for other food, by the rota-
tory motion of their jaws, and tlie form of
their teeth. And although the Mammoth is
deficient in cutting teeth, and has no other
canine teeth than his enormous tusks (which
deficiencies may have been supplied by a pair
4^
of large and powerful lips, indicated by the
uncommon sinuosity on the front of the lower
jaw), yet I am decidedly of opinion, since it
cannot be contradicted by a single fact, that
the Mammoth was exclusively carnhorcus ; by
which I mean, that he made use of no vege-
table food, but either lived entirely on fish
or flesh, and not improbably on shell-fish, if,
as there are other reasons to suppose, he par-
took in any degree of the amphibious nature.
It has been observed that these teeth resem-
ble those of the Hyppopotamus ; but very little
observation and comparison, between such of
them as were but little used and those worn
down with age, would have been sufficient
to satisfy the weakest judgment that they are
of a very different kind; those of the Hippo-
potamus being alv/ays in the adult animal
ground down horizontally, so as to present a
flat surface to action, and only the hindmost
teeth in the young and middle aged Hyppo-
potamus shewing any appearance of rounded
protuberances, wliich, in fact, are always of
an irregular figure and having the enamel,
although commencing on the outside as in the
49
Sheep, Goat, Deer, &c. yet in such manner
entering into the body of the tooth aS to con-
stitute it, when worn down, a perfectly gra-
nivorous tooth ; for it may be observed, that
the Sheep, Goat, Deer, and Hippopotamus,
in having the edges of their teeth protected
by enamel, differ from those graminivorous
animals (as the Horse and Ox) which do not
cut the bark of trees, or feed upon reeds.
Thus much is as little as can be said on the
teeth; not so remarkable even for their size
as their peculiar construction, and mechanical
action : there being no animal known, v/hose
teeth resemble them.
TUSKS.
Although it was extremely probable, or
rather (as Hunter expressed himself) there was
no reason to doubt but that the same animal
which owned the carnivorous teeth likewise
owned the tusks which were found with them
on the Ohio, yet the fact could there not be
well ascertained, because the bones of several
H
■50 •
-animals were intermixed with each other ; nar
was it satisfactorily proved until the dis-
XGvery of these skeletons in the state of New-
York, in both instances unaccompanied with
any extraneous bones.
It was owing to the discovery of tusks, with
these bones, that so much has been said about
their being elephantine : but they are totally
different in their form, substance, and po-
sition : the Elephant's tusk is nearly straight,
and therefore part of a very large circle j a
very long tusk of the Mammoth forms the
half of a circle of much smaller diameter, be-
sides having a peculiar twist or spiral form.
Transverse sections of the Elephant's tusk
constantly yield the oval figure ; those of the
Manimoth are perfectly round. The Elephant's
tusks are uniform ivory; those of the Mam-
moth, are of two distinct substances, the inter-
nal part having the texture of, but a much
softer consistence than, ivory 3 the outer part
not having the texture of, and actually harder
than, ivory, forming a very thick shell over
the whole tusk. At first I imagined that the
internal part had been true ivory, which had
""""'"" i "
5^
suffered decomposition; but to this idea there
presented insuperable difficulties : ail the
bones found in the same morass, at nearly
an'equal depth, and equally protected by the
shell marie and water, were in an equal de-
gree of preservation ; but every bone was more
decayed than the ivory in the body and roots
of the teeth, and these sometimes less perfect
than the enamel. How could it happen then
that the bones were not wholly decayed, to cor-
respond with the tusk ? or why should this be
so much decayed,, while the ivory of the teeth
is in such fine preservation, having been under
the same circumstances ? These auestions can-
not be answered but in the belief that the
tusks (although they certainly have suffered
some injury) never could have been of the sarnq
consistence as those of the Elephant.
When the skeleton v/as first erected, I was
much at a loss how to dispose of the tusks 3 their
sockets shewed that they grew out forwards,
but did not indicate whether they were curved
up or down. I chose, therefore, first to turn,
them upwards, not because they produced the
s^.me effect as in the Elephant ; for it is evi-*.
H 2
52
dent they could not, from the different angles
between the sockets for the tusks and the con-
dyles of the neck (as before remarked) ; the
horizontal position of which in the Mammoth,
together with the great curve of the tusks,
would elevate them too high into the air, di-
recting them backwards, twelve feet from the
ground , so that they never could have been
brought sufficiently near the ground for any
kind of purpose. This position was evidently
absurd 5 and there is infinitely more reason in
supposing them to have been placed like those
of the Walrus^ and probably for a similar
purpose.
The tusks which were found at Barber's
(the point of one I have with me) exactly
resemble those in the skeleton, but very much
worn at the extremities, and worn in so pe-
culiar a manner as could not have happened
in an elevated position j unless on the absurd
supposition, that the animal amused himself
with wearing and rendering them blunt, by
rubbing them against high and perpendicular
cliffs of rocks. This, in a state of nature,
can never be supposed, whatever habits may
53
he acquired when in a narrow confinement.
There can be no doubt, then, of their having
been used against the ground; and not im-
probably in rooting up shell-fish, or in climb-
ing the banks of rivers and lakes.
NECK.
The bones of the neck do not materially
differ from those of the Elephant, except
that the spinous processes of the fifth, sixth,
and seventh, are not so long as in the Ele-
phant.
BACK.
The second, third, and fourth dorsal ver-
tebrae are crowned with immensely long and
thick processes, which rise perpendicularly over
the shoulders, as in the Hog : from the fourth,
the spinous processes decrease rapidly to the
twelfth 3 and from thence to the sacrum, in-
cluding the lumber vertebrae, they are scarcely
to be seen. This conformation differs remark-
ably from the Elephant, which has a greater
54-
uniformity in the length of these processes ;
those over the shoulders being not so long,
and all the rest of the back and loins much
longer ; consequently the back is more arched.
The vertebra are, seven cervical, nineteen dor-
sal, and three lumber — in all twenty-nine.
HIPS.
Every eye is struck with the dispropor-
tionate smallness of the opening through the
pelvis ; although the rest of the bone is suf-
ficiently larsie. These bones are somewhat
broken j but the parts uninjured are sufficient
to shew a very different form from those of the
Elephant, which are high in comparison with
their breadth ; and consequently the rump of
this animal was even more depressed than the
Elephant's, in the manner of the American
Bisson or Buffaloe. In the Elephant, the
angles from the ossce tabidoe to the lateral pro-
cesses of the ilium, are very great; whereas
in the Mammoth they are almost on a straight
line.
'SS
TAIL,
-The tail is imperfect, though from the num-
ber and size of the bones it was probably a
long one; but it is very remarkable that, the
lateral processes are extremely long, and the
superior ones quite short, so that the tail must
have been Inroad and JIat : whereas the tail of
the Elephant *, instead of being broad, is
flattened in the direction of the spine, a little
bristly hair growing on the outer edge^ and a
greater quantity of it, somewhat longer, grow-
ing on the inner edge^ which gives it something
of a fin-like appearance.
RIBS.
From all the drawings of Elephants, and
from such of their real ribs as I have seen,
I have observed one universal and unvarying
character; they 2S^ fiat^ like those of the Ox,
i;W/ towards their head, broad towards their
junction with the cartilage, and more or less
bent sidev^ise in an undulating form-f-; whereas
* See the pJate, figure V. ,
t See Camper on the Elephant.
S6
those of the Mammoth are extremely narrow
at the cartilage, thick and strong towards their
head, and bent perfectly ^^^^ww, standing a
little obliquely, and without any lateral bend *,
The first pair are so remarkable in their form
as to appear, especially when seen detached,
more like clavicles^ being (unlike the rest of
the ribs) excessively bulky and broad towards
the cartilage, and crossing the breast-bone at
right angles, reducing to a very small size and
curious figure the entrance into the chest. —
The first six pair of ribs are remarkably strong,
especially compared with the remainder, which
are extremely small and comparatively weak 5
and the whole of them so short, that the body
must have been of a very small proportionate
magnitude. — The ribs are 19 pair.
LEGS AND FEET.
As well as can be determined from the
drawings and skeletons of Elephants, which are
all of a small size in England, and therefore
♦ See the plate, figure VI.
SI
bad subjects for comparison, I am disposed to
pronounce the legs and feet considerably
like, those of the Elephant, differing in some
particulars, but chiefly in the proportionate
length and breadth. The scapula of the Ele-
phant * is in proportion much larger than that
of the Mammoth, and the upper extremity
cf it less extended, and more pointed : in the
scapula of the Mammoth -f-, the two processes
that proceed from the spine are uncommonly
long and rough, especially the one pointing
backwards and downwards, extending very
nearly across the blade, &c. The humerus,
radius, and ulna, are unusually thick for their
length, to which the fore-feet correspond, the
hind-feet not being near so large j whereas,
in the Elephants I have seen, the hind are full
as large as the fore- feet, and in some specimens
considerably larger: in the Mammoth the
bones of the hind-feet are small, but full of
those strong protuberances which served for
the attachment of muscle. One necessary
consequence of this great bulk of the radius
and ulna is, that the radius, crossi^iig the ulna
* See the plate, figure VIL f Figure YIII.
I
58
from the outside above to thd inside below,
forms a greater angle than if the bones were
slender J in which case the crossing would
scarcely be observable : — perhaps it is more
remarkable in the Mammoth than any other
animal. In the toes of the fore-feet the second
plalanges terminate with a little groove, which
indicates that the third phalanx, to which the
nail was attached, was susceptible of consi-
derable motion 5 and that the nail probably
resembled that of the Hippopotamus rather
than the Elephant. Another variation from
the Elephant in the legs is, that the difference
in length between the thigh-bone and the tibia,
or, in other words, the distance from the
knee, above and below, is less remarkable in the
Elephant than in the Mammoth 3 the thigh-
bone being longer^ and the tibia shorter^ than
those of the Elephant : hence the knee of the
Mammoth must have been more equally placed
between the body and the ground, especially
as it has already appeared from an examina-
tion of the ribs, that the body of the Mam-
moth must have been much smaller compara-
tively than that of the Elephant. As we are
not in possession of the bones of any large
59
and fall grown Elephants, nor any of the lajge
quadrupeds, we are enabled to make but a
very imperfect comparison, by means of the
small ones usually to be met with j but, from
what we have, there does not appear any other
remarkable difference in the legs except in
the femori ; those of the Elephant being cy/hi-
drical^ those of the Mammoth hcmg flattened^
so that a cross section of the former would
shew a circle, and of the latter a long cvaL
The comparison which Daubenton made be^
tween the thigh-bones of the Asiatic Elephant,
the Siberian Elephant or Mammouth, and the
American Incognitum (since called Mammoth)
shewed three successive degrees of propor-
tionate bulk J that of the modern Elephant
being the most slender, and that of the /Ameri-
can animal the most bulky in an equal scale
of length. He likewise observed that those of
the latter were very considerably flattened, and
some variation in the direction of the neck
and the great trochanter. — The number of
bones in the legs and feet agree witli the hu-
man skeleton.
I 2
BIMENSIONS OF THE SKELETON.
Height over the shoulders
Ditto over the hips - - -
Length from the chin to the rump
From the point of the tasks to the end
of the tail, following the curve -
Length in a straight line
Width of the hips and body -
Length of the under jaw
Weight of the same - 63 1 pounds
Width of the head
Length of the thigh-bone
Smallest circumference of the same
Length of the tibia - - -
Length of the humerus, or large bone
of the fore-leg - _ -
Largest circumference of the same
Smallest ditto ditto - - -
Length of the radius
Ft.
Inch.
II
0
9
0
15
0
31
0
17
6
5
8
2
10
3
2
3
7
I
6
2
0
2
10
3
2i
I
2
5
5^
6i
Circumference round the elbow -^ 3 8
Lengthof the scapula, or shoulder-blade 3 i
Length of the longest vertebrae, or back-
bone --__--23
Longest rib, without cartilage - 4 7
Length of the first rib ---20
Ditto of the breast-bon^ --40
Length of the tusks, defences, or horns 10 7
Circumference of one tooth or grinder i 6|
Weight of the same, 4 pounds i o ounces.
The whole skeletoti weighs about 1000 pounds.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
MUCH has been said on the subject of the
bones found in America by persons who ner
ver saw them, or but mutilated fragments of
them ; resting their faith upon what has been
said by certain writers of science and respect-
ability, on the Mammouth of Siberia 5 and
thence falling into the error, that those large
bones found in America were of the same
species.
Many years ago, when scientific travellers,
several of whom were commissioned by the
Emperor of Russia, found in the inhospitable
regions of Siberia numerous quadruped bones,
of gigantic size, they learnt from the pea-
sants to distinguish them by the term Mam-
mouth, an animal which they believed to be
still living. These bones, inftead of another
63
name, continued to be distinguished by that
originally given to them, whenever they be-
came the subject of disquisition. Strahlen-
burgh, In his Hlstorico-geographical Dic-
tionary, deiives this word from the Hebrew
Behemot, corrupted by the Arabians into Me-
hemot, and thence into the Russian Mammouty
or Mammoth. But a short time elapsed,
under tlie encouragement of the Emperor,
before a considerable number of these bones,
and particularly the heads, were discovered
and taken to the imperial cabinet at St. Pe-
tersburgh. The tusks and several other
bones were, before this, by many suspected
to have been elephantine ^ but the fact is
now sufficiently established — and they are,
therefore, classed as an extinct species. —
They are elephantine, because the head, from
v/hich the whole judgment may be taken, is
furnished with graminivorous teeth, in some
degree resembling those of the Asiatic Ele-
phant J because the eye is hollowed out of
a slender zygomatic process; because the
cranium swells out into two full conjoining
lobes J because the horizontal line of the
teeth is situated, so as to form, Vv'ith the con-
64
dyle of the neck, an angle of 135 degrees,
a line from the condyle of the neck descend-
ing in an angle of forty-five degrees to meet
the posterior part of the upper teeth j because
on this oblique line, above the teeth, the in-
ner nostril commences and runs parallel with
the teeth, terminating in the forehead, be-
tween the eyes, where it serves for the origin
of the proboscis * ; and, because the tusks,
which are of perfect ivory, are simply curved,
and resembling those of the living Elephant.
And yet with these traits of resemblance,
there have been observed in the head and other
parts several features, which distinguish it
specifically from either the African Elephant,
or that of Asia, which it most resembles. I
ihall only remark, that the teeth appear to be
distinguished by having the laminse of enamel
* This inner nostril in the Mammoth, instead of having
the direction mentioned above, runs directly upward at right
angles from the teeth, and terminates in the broken part of
the head posterior to a concave suiface, which, if it be the
cerebellum, is uncommonly low and small. This inner nos-
tril, us far as we can trace it, is very smooth and cylindrical.
Could the nostril have terminated as in the whale, and for a
similar purpose ?
6i
thinner, placed in straiter lines more closely
together, and much more numerous, than in
the -modern Elephant.
As soon as it was known in Europe that bones
of a larG:e size were likewise found in America^
and either the thigh-bones or drawings of them
sent over, they were instantly pronounced the
same as those found in Siberia ; and, from the
circumstance of this opinion having been so
hastily expressed, there have been some whose
mature judgment has been satisfied with en-
creasing proofs, who. have, nevertheless, been
weak enousrh to be ashamed to confess it. For it
is a fact of which almost every man of any ob-
servation may have had sufficient proof, that
even am^ong men of real science, trath suffers
more from the tenacity of opinion once expres-
sed ^ than from a want of love for it — all men love
it, but fear to be thought v/eathercocks J and, cer-
tain that they are not deities, they shrink from
the imputation of infallibility ! Every anatomist
knows that a judgment pronounced from one
bone is liable to error ; and, in fact, there was
no more reason to pronounce the Femori, found
in America, to be elephantine, than there
K
66
would have been to decide the Humeri, which
accompanied them, to have belonged to a
gigantic Horse; for th^ Humeri of the Mam-?
moth do not differ so much from those of the
Horse, as the Femori do from those of the
]p^lephant.
The bones found in America were always
accompanied with teeth of a very peculiar
structure, unlike those, whether large or small,
belonging to any animal known, but most
resembling those of the Hog, and the young
and unused teeth of the Hippopotamus : they
were, therefore, suspected to have been part
of an immense Hippopotamus, rather thaix
tolerate the idea that there had ever existed a.
species of animal no longer in existence. But
since it was evident that there had existed a
large unknown quadruped, of which these,
were the teeth, how could it appear improba*
ble that the other bones accompanying them
should have belonged to the same animal^
because they bore some resemblance to the
Elephant? Yet it was doubtful: and, while
Butlbn, Daubenton, Gmellin, and Sloane,
were afraid to find the bones otherwise than.
elephantine, Hunter was the only naturalist,
who, judging impartially, and abiding by the
invariable features of nature, was satisfied that
they were not, and that the teeth were never used
in the mastication of vegetables. The weight
of Hunter's authority inclined many to his
opinion among the English, but more among
the French and Germans confided in the judg-
ment of Daubenton. The discovery of two
skeletons, and a third collection of bones, in
the state of New- York, has put the subject
beyond the reach of question; and we are now
satisfied that there formerly existed a stupen^
dous animal in North America, with many
peculiar characters. If there were no other
instances of the remains of unknown, I may
say, extinct animals, it would be difficult to
receive this as the first evidence of the kindj
but the world teems with them ; all Europe
abounds with them ; and in America already
there have been foundy^^r of a large size, and,
several of a smaller.
The immense quantity of animal remains
found in limestone, and the perfect impres-
sions of vegetables in slate, not only prove a
K 2
68
long period of time to have elapsed since they
existed, but that these extraordinary incrus-
tations were effected in some sudden revolu-
tions, and that they must have lived and pro-
pagated a period of time before those events,
And it is evident that there have been succes-
sive revolutions or changes of this kind, by
the repetition of similar strata, at various
depths, with regular intermediate soils. I
shall here introduce a proof, connected with
our subject, and otherwise interesting. Be-
sides the skeletons with carnivorous teeth,
found in New- York and elsewhere in America,
there have been found in Kentucky several
very large graminivorous teeth, never known
to be accompanied with any other parts (un-
less perhaps the tusks), and always much de-
cayed. They appear to me exactly like those
found in Siberia ; and I have no hesitation in
attributing them to a more remote age than
that in which the Mammoth lived, unless we
suppose the bones of the Mammoth to be of
a more dense nature and less liable to decay :
that they are astonishingly dense is sufficiently
obvious from some few specimens ; but I can
scarcely imagine the others to have been so
6g
much softer as wholly to have disappeared,
except the grinders and some tusks, while such
numbers of the former still remain in good
preservation.
It is not sufficiently knov/n that there have
been large graminivorous teeth found in
America ; and by those who know it the pro-
per inferences are not generally formed. That
there are found in America teeth sim.il^!:, to
those discovered in Siberia, proves either that
the same animal has inhabited the two coun-
tries, and therefore that there must have been'
at some period a communication, or that a
deluge has deposited some of their carcasses
in America ; but, from the paucity of their
remains, compared with the astonishing num-
bers discovered in Siberia, whence they have
long been taken as an article of commerce,
and still continue abundant, it it certain, that
if they did inhabit America, it had been but
for a short time ; or they originally inhabited
America, and thence spread into Siberia, and
were' destroyed in America antecedent to their
destruction in Siberia : for it must be asrain
remarked, that while their remains (particu-
I
7° ,
larly the tusks and teeth) are frequently in
excellent preservation in Siberia, none have
ever been found in America but in the extreme
of decay: at any rate, that there is this dif-
ference in the kind and preservation of these
bones must be an interesting fact to natural-
ists, and lead to some particular conclusions,
since it must have been owing to some par-
ticular causes 5 either such as I have imagined,
or others equally conclusive.
The Mammouth bones found in Siberia, hav-
ing given name to the great fossil bones of
America, those writers who, from observation,
knew the former to be elephantine, concluded
the latter to be so likewise, especially if they
happened to hear any thing of the great grami-
nivorous teeth above-mentioned : they there-
fore adopted the idea, that the various leg-
bones, &c. found on the Ohio, were part of
the same animal which owned these teeth j
and that the jaw-bones, with carnivorous or
conic-ridged teeth, were the only remains of
some other stupendous being, analagous to the
Hyppopotamus : but three unquestionable
facts now prove the reverse to be the case.
7?
though one would be sufficient, if the whole
skeleton was found together almost all united,
and without any extraneous bones, as was
the case with the skeleton discovered in Ulster
County, New- York, and erected in the Phi-
ladelphia museum : and we are now satisfied
that no other parts of the animal which owned
the graminivorous teeth and ivory tusks have
been yet discovered, because no other bones
have been found, but such as perfectly resem-
ble the skeletons dug up in New- York, and
which so materially differ from the Elephant.
Hitherto I have not been able to learn
whether even a single tooth of the American
Incognitum has ever been discovered in Si-
beria ; and, until we shall have at least one
authenticated fact of this kind, we must con-
clude that this animal was peculiar to America.
Nevertheless, I am disposed to think there
may yet be found in Siberia these carnivorous
teeth, because, as was observed before, teeth
similar to the graminivorous ones of Siberia
are found in America. Indeed it is by no
means improbable that as they were both in-
habitants of the same climate, in different Ion-
72
gltudes, a few from either country may havd;
migrated into the other ; for the carnivorous
teeth, and their appropriate bones, are as
abundant in America as the graminivorous or
elephantine remains are in Siberia. I am,
therefore, of opinion, mere from this circum-
stance than any other, that there must have
been a communication between the two con-
tinents, since it is now "a well established fact,
that every country has its peculiar inhabitants.
Had the celebrated Buffon attended better to
this truth, he would have saved himself some
needless observations and theoretic fancies,
with respect to the old and new world ; but
we should likewise have lost the able reply of
Jefferson. It is not because the climate and
productions of South America are unfavour-
able to the production of Elephants, that they
are not found there ; but it is because the
Elephant is not an American, nor the Mam-
moth an African, animal : some violence has
destroyed one, while the other still lives ; and
was even the Megatherium in existence,
it would reflect no discredit on Africa, Asia,
or Europe, that neither of them possessed a
SLOTH of such stupendous magnitude !
73
I have frequently been asked, if from ap-
pearances it could be determined whether the
Mammoth originally inhabited America, or
the carcases of them may not have been depo-
sited there? This question is best answered by
others: if not originally of America, w^here
alone their bones are found, and in consider-
able numbers, from what country could a
deluge have transported them, that not one
trace is left behind ? Besides, since they are
only found in one country, why should we
seek occasion to admit the improbable idea
that they belonged to another ?
It is an extraordinary circumstance, that in
the salt-lick on the Ohio, these bones, large
and small, young and old, are intermixed with
the bones of Buffaloes and Deer j as if what
the Indians say had been really the case, and
that these were the collected remains of ages,
of those sickly animals which had died during
their visit to ^^he salt morass ; for it is
well known that to this salt morass and
others in Kentucky, there are broad roads
made by Buffaloes and Deer, w^hich are seen
greedily to drink the salt water or lick the salt
74-
eartli, whence the name of the salt licking
place. Yet in the state of New-York, where
these skeletons were discovered, only the re-
mains, or part of the remains, of one animal
have been found in one place, and those so
much together as sufficiently to prove that the
whole carcase has been there, whether left by
death or a deluge.
Still I think that a deluge has devastated
the whole of that part of America, because
the country abounds with petrifactions of
marine productions, and such as we know
now are to be found only in the tropical seas :
but these proofs are found every where, and
may be antecedent to the existence or destruc-
tion of these animals in that part j and their
total extinction may have been occasioned by
some other extraordinary revolution, for ex-
traordinary it must have been to have produced
an effect, the tendency of which the human
mind is unable to comprehend: but these
great facts speak an universal language, and
compel us to believe that a time has been
when numbers of animals, and what is more
extraordinary, larger animals than now re-
is
■main, existed, had their day, and have pe-
rished ^ and yet the fanciful chain of nature is
not broken ! or else a new chain has taken
the place of the old. Formerly it was as un-
philosophical and impious to say that any
thing ceased to exist which had been created,
as it is now to say the reverse, because innu-
merable concurring facts prove that the races of
many animals have become extinct j since it is
not possible that so many, and such large ani-
mals, should live unknown, although one or
two species might.
In another place I have pointed those cir-
cumstances, wherein the head of the Mam-
moth and that of the Elephant materially
differ; my object in this place is to hazard
some ideas relative to the habits and the food
of the former. When it has been said of the
Mammoth that it must have been carnivorous,
the word was not intended to convey the idea of
his being a beast of prey^ like the tiger, wolf,
&c. but that his food must have been animal^
because all vegetables (except fruit) require
peculiar instruments to file, bruise, or grind
them, totally unlike the teeth of the Mam-
L 2
76
moth. But as no other animal whatever has
teeth whose mechanical action at all corres-
ponds with those of the Mammoth, we are
forbid by the invariable concordance of nature,
to suppose that his food could have resembled
that of those whose teeth are differently con-
structed. The teeth of all animals living on
grass, bark, branches, roots, nuts, &c. are
veined internally with enamel, and they ope-
rate by grinding backwards and forwards, like
the Elephant, Squirrel, &c. ; from side to side,
like the Horse, Sheep, &c. j or in a circular
manner produced by both motions, Ox, Ass,
&c. And in all these animals their teeth
seem expressly constructed to accord with such
motions ; so invariable indeed, that any one
may arrange these graminivorous teeth, whe-
ther the animals to which they belonged be
known or unknovv^n to him, by a very simple
rule : When the action of the jaws is back-
wards and forwards, the enamel runs, more or
less, r.crcss the teeth ; when the action is from
side to side, the enamel is more or less length-
wise ; and when there is the rotatory motion,
the ligure of the enamel is more irregular and
serpentine, resembling a Chinese character.
77
Another thing worthy of attention is, that in
those animals whose teeth are to answer no
other purpose than mere mastication, the
enamel does not reach the edge of them ; but
in the teeth of the Sheep, Goat, Deer, &c.
which are frequently used in tearing off bark,
the enamel, besides pervading the whole tooth,
likewise forms a sharp edge to it, so as to
answer the purpose of a knife. I take the
merit of these observations to myself, because
I have never met with any of a similar nature :
but cursorily as I have mentioned them, they
must appear of some importance, and, I be-
lieve, will lead to further and more satisfactory
investigation.
This is a short survey of those instruments
which are intended to subjugate the vegetable
tribes : it must be obvious, that to make as
universal an use of the animal world will re-
quire a much greater variety ; and accordingly
the Lion, Tyger, Bear, Wolf, Opossum, Rac-
coon, Ant-eater, Crocodile, &c. are all variously
armed for destruction.
If the Mammoth was intended to live en-
7B
tirely upon shell-fish, no other teeth would
be required than such as those of the Walrus,
simply operating as two hammers ; if his
food had been the flesh of quadrupeds, his
teeth would have been similar to those of the
Tyger or Lyon ; but since we actually find
them to have the powers of both combined, is
it unreasonable to believe that his food might
have been shell-fish, turtles, fish, or su<:h
other animals as might be found in or near
lakes? This is the only kind of food he could
conveniently procure, and surely none could
be required of a more succulent nature. It is
very certain, from the peculiar manner in
which the teeth are worn, that the food was
hard, and of a small size, because the strongly
enamelled protuberances are scarcely ever
found equally worn off, but only on one side.
This observation can only be made on the teeth
of old animals ; but it is sufficiently apparent
in the skeleton here, and very remarkable in
that at Philadelphia. Whatever was the food,
after it was taken into the mouth, the tongue
has performed its most natural function, and
pushed the substance to be crushed against the
cheek, so that the pressure of the tongue and
the elasticity of the cheek, counteracting each
other, have constantly directed the food in the
proper manner, so that the teeth have con-
stantly acted against the inner edge (of the
shell for instance) until sufficiently broken,
consequently the teeth of the lower jaw are only
worn next the cheek j besides, the tusks could
jiotanswera betterpurpose than that of rooting
up such food, or in assisting the animal, in
the manner of the Walrus, to ascend the
banks : botli the jaws resemble those of tire
Walrus more than the Elephant, and so do
the tusks in substance, position and use — but,
jn speaking of position, I do not so much mean
my conjecture of their position downwards, as
of the relative situation of their sockets with
respect to the condyle of the neck, which evi-
dently requires such art arrangement of tusks,
as much as the Elephant, whose sockets arc
so much lower than his neck, requires his
nearly straight tusks to be directed towards the
earth : any other position in the Mammoth
would render them more cumbersome and in-
convenient, without any obvious purpose to
be answered.
8o
From an examination of the teeth, it would
therefore appear that the Mammoth probably
fed in and about lakes, on such animals as
could not well escape him, and which would
not require much artifice or speed to be caught,
nothing more being necessary than his long
tusks and some powerful protuberant cartila-
genous instrument, for the purpose of taking
up his prey, whether, like the Elephant, it was
a nose elongated j or like the Walrus, it was
a large and powerful lip; or like the Ant-eater,
it was a long and powerful tongue.
From ihe form of the animal otherwise,
we should imagine a lake and its neighbour-
hood to be its proper residence, without any
reference to the teeth -, but when both lead to
the same idea it derives two-fold strength.
Besides that the ribs (except those connected
with the scapula) are wonderfully deficient in
size and strength, and therefore not at all
calculated to bear any weight of stomach cor-
responding in size with such animals as de-
vour vast quantities of vegetables, they are
evidently too small to accord even with the
St.
bodies of beasts of prey in general, which,
succulent as their food may be, are frequently
under the necessity of eating voraciously. In
the Mammoth, after observing that the teeth .
are admirably calculated for mastication, we
cannot but be astonished at the smallness of
the opening into the chest through the first
pair of ribs, the smallness of the body about'
the loins, and the narrow outlet through the
pelvis ; all which circumstances, in conjunction
with the astonishing strength of the fore-legs,
to enable so large an animal to displace a
denser medium than air, lead to the idea, that
these great animals must have inhabited or
frequented the great lakes of America, which
we have reason to think were even more nu-
merous and larger than they are at present.
That their remains should always be found
in morasses, which evidently have been lakes,
or in those situations where lakes must neces-
sarily have been, has appeared to many a suf-
ficient proof of their having inhabited such
places : but although I believe they did, it does
not appear necessary to induce this inference
from a fact that may be otherwise accounted
M
82
for J for after the destruction of these animals,
whether by water or otherwise, their remains
could not have been preserved in any other
situation, because in no other situation could
they be so well excluded from the air.
On digging into these morasses you gene»
rally have to remove from one to two feet of
peat or turf: you then enter on a stratum,
from one to two feet thick, of what the far-
mers call the yellow marie, composed of vege-
table earth intermixed with long yellow roots :
next the grey marie, which resembles wet ashes,
to the further depth of two feet j and finally a
bed of decayed shells, which they call shell-
marle, the upper surface of which forms a
horizontal line across the morass, consequently
it is thicker at the center than at the edges :
under this, forming the bottom of the pond or
morass, is found gravel and slate covering a
thick stratum of clay. It was in the white
and grey marie the bones were generally found j
those in the white in the highest preservation,
less so in the grey, and where an end hap-
pened to rise into the yellow stratum it was
proportionally decayed : one cause of this
83
must have been the accession of air when the
springs in dry seasons were low.
The grey marie, in which many of the
bones lay, by analysis was found to contain
seventy-three parts in the hundred of lime :
when dried in the sun it cracks into thin hori-
zontal laminas, and becomes extremely light,
as hard as baked clay, and brittle j in this state
it burns with a bright flame for a long while,
and instead of leaving ashes, it remains a
strong black coal, apparently well adapted to
the purposes of the arts.
These various strata are the production of a
long succession of ages, and undoubtedly have
been formed over the bones. In two of the
morasses there was not depth sufficient to
have bemired an animal of such magnitude
and strength ; and in the third the bones were
lying near the sloping edge, from which some
of them had already been washed farther in.
The animals have either died or been destroyed
generally over the country, and only in these
situations have been preserved ; or they have
M 2
84
sought these cool places to die in -, or perhaps
both.
No calculation can be made of the length of
time necessary to have formed these morasses,
although we are certain that, as in fifty years
past scarcely any change appears, it must have
been proportionally slower in the commence-
ment 3 a::d a period has elapsed in which all ac-
counts of this animal have dwindled into
oblivdonj unless a confused Indian tradition
about the great Buffalo be supposed connected
with it.
Among the remains of gigantic and un-
known aiiim Is, found in America, one of the
Ox or B u F F A L o kind was lately discovered near
the big-bf , ■■ lick in Kentucky*. Tiie right
horn is hoiv^n off, and all the fore part of the
head ; but f. om the fragment remaining, it is
a reasonable conjecture, that the Buffalo to
which it belonged was about 10 or 11 feet
high. The pith of the horn at the base mea-
sures 21 ihccvS in circumference, and tapers
* See the Philosophical Magazine for May 1803, p« 325-
8s
very gently towards the extremity where it is
broken off; so that the horn itself could not
have been less than six feet in length: from the
middle suture on the head to the base of the
horn the measure is seven inches and a half;
consequently the two horns were 15 inches
distant, which must have been en creased when
they were partly covered with fiosh, skiii, and
hair.
. Until the discovery of this bone in Amen -."•,
the tradition of the Indians concerning t..»
GRKAT Buffalo has been considered by
many as entitled to very little attention Some
have interpreted it as having entire ie??rencc
to the animal we now call Mammoth, whose
pre-eminent size was so obvious, and wac^z
carnivorous teeth were well calculated to ex-
cite terror; but I have now no hesLatlon m
believing that this tradition of the Indians,
which, with such little vaiia'ion, preva'.la
through all North America, mentioning the
ancient existence of a great Bufiilo, is ?. tra-
dition really handed down to them from tl:eir
forefathers; but, like all others, clouded with
fable : yet it is not improbable, since we find
86
the remains of the Mammoth and the great
Buffalo in the same country, that the distinct
ideas of each have heen in time confounded,
the terrible power of the one with the name of
the other. This ideta, however, is very un-
certain ; but as it has been usual to mention
the bones of the Mammoth and the tradition
together, it will not be uninteresting if we take
notice of it here, especially as it is a specimen
of the Indian mode of description, which is
always highly poetical, and much in the stile
of Ossian.
INDIAN TRADITION.
" Ten thousand moons ago, when nought
but gloomy forests covered this land of the
sleeping sun j long before the pale men, with
thunder and fire at their command, rushed on
the wings of the wind to ruin this garden of
nature ; when nought but the untamed wan-
derers of the woods, and men as unrestrained
as they were the lords of the soil ; a race of
animals existed, huge as the frowning precipice,
cruel as the bloody panther, swift as the de-
scending eagle, and terrible as the angel of
night. The pines crashed beneath their feet,
and the lake shrunk when they slaked their
thirst ; the forceful javelin in vain was hurled,
and the barbed arrow fell harmless from their
side. Forests were laid waste at a meal *; the
groans of expiring animals were every where
heard, and whole villages, inhabited by men,
were destroyed in a moment. The cry of uni-
versal distress extended even to the region of
peace in the west, and the good Spirit inter-
posed to save the unhappy. The forked light-
ning gleamed around, and loudest thunder
rocked the globe ! The bolts of heaven were
hurled upon the cruel destroyers alone, and
the mountains echoed with the bellowings of
death. All were killed except one male, the
fiercest of the race, and him, even the artillery
• These passages must allude to a herd of them.
88
of the skies assailed in vain *. He ascended
the bluest summit which shades the source of
the Monangahela, and, roaring aloud, bid de-
fiance to every vengeance. The red lightning
scorched the lofty firs, and rived the knotty oaks,
but only glanced upon the enraged monster -f-.
At length, maddened v^ith fury, he leaped over
the weaves of the west at a bound, and this mo-
ment reigns the uncontrouled monarch of the
wilderness, in despite of even Omnipotence it-
self."
The language of this Tradition J is certainly
English, and perhaps a little too highly dress-
ed ; but the ideas are truly Indian : it is
• It Is a curious coincidence of circumstances, that In the
writings of an ancient Jew rabbi, a Jewish tradidon is men-
tioned, stating or,e of the anlnTals described in Job under the
name of Behemoth (from which the term Mammoth by ac-
cident has been derived) is still living somewhere, and re-
served ;is a feast for the Jews on their restoration.
t The beauty of this passage can only be felt by those who
know what an American thunder-storm is, and who know,
that while by a stroke of lightning the oak is shattered to
pieces, the ruinojs fir is only Inflamed.
X Which I first found in Gary's Museum for 1789, and
since in Wiuterbotham's History of America.
89
given in another form in Jefferson's notes on
Virginia. It states " that in ancient times a
herd of these animals came to the big-bone
lick, and began an universal destruction of the
bears, buffaloes, deer, and all the animals
created for the use of the Indians : this so
displeased the great Spirit, that he descended
upon a neighbouring mountain, where there
is still to be seen the print of his seat, and of
one foot, and hurling his bolts among them,
killed them all but the great bull, who, pre-
senting his forehead to the shafts, shook them
off as they fell : at length, missing one, it
wounded him in the side, and he leaped over
the Wabash, the lilenois, and the great
lakes, where he still lives."
A few years since some large bones, of an
uncommon kind, were found in a cave in Vir-
ginia, highly preserved by lying in earth
abounding with nitre. They were sent to the
Philosophical Society, and an account of them
published in the fourth volume of their
Tranfactions : by permission of the Society,
I have made accurate casts of them.
N
9^
Hence It appears that four animals of enor-
mous magnitude have formerly existed in
America, perhaps at the fame time, and of na-
tures very opposite : isty The Mammoth, car-
nivorous J 2d, An animal whose graminivorous
teeth, larger than, and different from, those of
the elephant, are sometimes found , 3^, The
great Indian bull ; and, 4/^^, An animal pro-
bably of the sloth kind, as appears on compa-
rison with the bones found in Virginia, and a
skeleton found in South America, and pre-
served in the Museum at Madrid.
How long since these animals have existed,
we shall perhaps ever remain in ignorance,
as no judgment can be formed from the
quantity of vegetable soil which has accumu-
lated over their bones. Certain we are that
they existed in great abundance, from the
number of their remains which are found in
America. We are likewise sure that they must
have been destroyed by some sudden and
powerful cause j and nothing appears more
probable than one of those deluges, or sud-
den irruptions of the sea, which have left their
traces (such as shells, corals, 6cc.) in every
91
part of the globe. It is, therefore, extremely
probable that whenever and by whatever
means the extirpation of these tremendous
animals was effected, the same cause muft
have operated in the destruction of all those
inhabitants from whom there might have been
transmitted some satisfactory account of these
stupendous beings, which at all times must
have filled the human mind with surprise and
wonder.
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